One of the more complete series to come out recently was “Prince of Stride: Alternative”. In a pretty basic “slice of life – sports” anime, the series has a very male-centric cast, with only one central female protagonist. Nana Sakurai, stride fan and team manager joins the stride club with Jock-Of-All-Trades Riku in their first year at Honan Academy. Stride is a combo relay-race parkour game which includes the use of a “relationer” (Nana’s role) to help the team members pass their baton successfully.

In episode one, the stride club has seen better days – dwindling to three members and taking on the secondary mantle of “chess club” to keep it going.

The plot of the anime is actually pretty tame: it has the traditional hot springs episode, but there’s not a lot of really inappropriate clips for introducing new watchers to the genre. In the meantime, Prince of Stride: Alternative features a really, really strong focus on being team players, taking on challenges, and overcoming obsticles (all of the puns intended).

Watching this just before Yuri on Ice really makes the latter pop, and is a great follow-up without getting too invested in something heavy.

While most binges are spontaneous and happen in one’s spare time, if there’s a series that you’ve been meaning to watch, you might try out mobile apps for Crunchyroll and the like. If your commute is longer, you can watch your show on the bus, etc.

2 – Make it a double feature

There are TONS of Anime movies out there that are out on DVD and available through Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, and Amazon. If you have a local DVD store, they may have a few of the older ones available for rent. Pick two by the same group, or with similar/contrasting themes, and have fun!

A really easy and common double feature/film binge is to pick a studio and watch two of their films in a row. (Studio Ghibli has enough films for a proper bender, but it’s not recommended for the faint of heart.)

3 – The Flight

(In Seattle, craft breweries will usually have a way to try multiple flavors at one sitting, and it’s usually called a “flight.)

Watch episodes one and two of at least three different anime. If you hook in, pick which one to watch all the way through next time.

4 – Anime Club

You don’t have to binge alone – if you’re part of a high school or university you may have an anime club already, or may be able to start one. Anime Binge was founded by a proud member of MEK Theta Sigma – a combination Anime Club and fandom community at Webster University

5 – Pick a Shorty

Most 12 ep anime series can be polished off in one day. Some of them don’t have a proper ending (no renewal) and some are just perfect and require a second watch later to really get the gist (FLCL is a great example).

6 – Plan a day and time, and ATTACK!

Some anime series just aren’t built for distract-able people. You can’t watch Stein’s Gate and still get the full gist if you do dub only with only watching occasionally. Or sub only with only watching occasionally. You will miss hint after hint of the wider story if you do.

One final note… In defense of “The Bender”
While you don’t necessarily want to binge the entirety of a 12 season anime in four days, there’s a perfectly legitimate excuse for The Bender – You always wanted to, and now you have, and don’t you feel better now that you have?

It’s difficult to maintain a “Bender” if you’re the only one doing it. You will have questions that you don’t have the answer to mid-season, you will have epiphanies that you can’t share with anyone else because they won’t get it. Let AB know if you’re going to attempt a Bender and we’ll do our best to attack it with you in parallel time. Tag us on our Facebook and let us know what you’re up to!

Anime News, including- but not limited to- upcoming Anime cons (which AB is too broke to attend), Trailers, and gossip. You know, what you would expect out of your buddies at the top of an Anime meeting.

Site updates, if applicable, would get addressed here

Anything that does not fall under the previous four categories will be posted on random days if Wildcard Wednesday is taken/scheduled in advance

Honestly, I expect this to last – AT BEST – a month, starting January. It’s worth a shot.

Suggestions? Interested in participating? Reach out to me in the comments, follow on wordpress, and share. It’s the only way I know if I’m on the right track or not.